ESPN’s Chad Ford, the man who knows as much about the NBA and its prospects as anyone, said in his weekly chat this afternoon that he believes the Harrison twins should return to Kentucky for another year. The topic came up when Matt from New York asked where Ford sees the twins landing in the draft. Excellent question, Matt from New York.

Matt (New York): Where do you see the Harrison twins going?

Chad Ford (1:44 PM): Hopefully back to Kentucky for their sophomore seasons. Neither looks ready to play in the NBA right now. If they declared for the draft? Probably late first round to early second.

Ford projects Andrew and Aaron, once believed to be lottery picks (at least Andrew), to fall to the late first round, maybe even the second. Andrew currently ranks 25th overall, behind four other points guards, in DraftExpress.com’s prospect rankings. Aaron is No. 30.

If the Harrisons do decide to return , I hope Calipari tells them that playing time will not be guaranteed next year like it has been for them this season. More specifically, I hope Cal tells them that the possibility will clearly exist that Ullis and / or Booker could take their playing time.

No one is ever “guaranteed” playing time under Cal but if you think two freshmen (who are ranked substantially lower than the twins were at the same point in their High School careers) come in and play over the twins than you are drunk and/or stupid.

A team of kids could win a National Championship and still not be NBA ready. Hell, if I hung a banner my frosh year and knew I still had a lot of growth left before I rivaled those PG’s such as Rondo, Steph Curry, Deron Williams, etc. I would come back and settle for nothing less than a banner every year until I’m good enough to start in the league

In reality, only Julius is ready to make the leap, and even he needs to work on extending his range. WCS will probably go, but he has yet to turn into a consistent scorer. The problem we currently have is that kids think that if they don’t go after one year that have failed in some fashion. I wish they’d stay and grow at Kentucky instead of choosing to move on when they are simply not ready. Their careers will last much longer by putting in the time in Lexington instead of being a marginal pick and ending up in the D-League.

Perfect example of this is Marquis Teague. An extra year at UK would have done him well. Maybe two. Instead, he is struggling to find minutes for the Bulls because he fell to a team that already had a superstar PG, then when the superstar got hurt, Teague wasn’t ready to fill his shoes. It’s likely Teague ends up in Europe or Asia after his contract expires.

They both need to come back, and I hope that’s what Calipari expresses to them. We’ve been spoiled these past few years with the “one & done” players that Cal has brought through the program, that we’re somehow disappointed when some of these highly touted young men don’t show that they’re ready for the next level after one year of college. They both would improve dramatically with the additional year under their belts, and the 2015 draft doesn’t seem nearly as loaded as this year’s draft. Come back, get better, get drafted higher.

Do we want either back? You guys can blast me if you want, but I’m serious. To me NEITHER will ever be spectacular, the ceiling for both is solid. But with the attitudes, and shoulder slouching and gesticulating at refs, I’m not sure if they wouldn’t be more of a distraction than and asset. I don’t see EITHER humbling themselves and playing a role like T JONES and LAMB did their soph year..

I guess people can’t grow and learn from their mistakes, should prolly just say to hell with these kids and never give them a chance to improve. That’s what your comment is saying, sounds like one of the dumbest comments iv heard in awhile.

Yes, some of us want them back! Do some of you people ever watch any other basketball? Did you see the players on Ark when fouls were called last night? Have you watched any NBA ever? I see very few players who DON’T react negatively to bad calls, or what they perceive as bad calls. I really wish body language, etc. had never become “Cal speak.” Ksr and other media ran with it and now these kids are falsely, at least in my opinion, labeled as having an attitude. AND needing glasses. Just how do we know they don’t wear contacts already and that’s just how their faces work? I guarantee Coach Cal knows if kids have vision problems.

I was thinking about this the other day and my theory is that Andrew being the point guard had his hands on the ball every time down the floor and as big as he is all he had to do is take his smaller defender to the hole. Andrew probably dominated the ball and Aaron didn’t get as many chances to show what he could do. To me, I actually think that Aaron can handle the basketball better than Andrew and may even become a better point guard in the pros that Andrew. When Aaron is bringing the ball up against pressure he seems to worry me much less than when Andrew does. Case in point was last night. Andrew was a turnover waiting to happen every time he touched the ball.

The reality is that the twins (along with other top-notch freshmen at UK and other schools) have been told for years that they are NBA talent and their entire mindset has been one-and-done. It’s what they’ve been groomed for. So I won’t be surprised if they go no matter where they are projected.

So Andrew is all of a sudden in 15 games go from shooting 50% from the line to shooting 85%, from being unable to guard anyone to being a lock down defender, go from being unable to shoot from the outside to a lights out shooter, and go from being lazy, leading a team to NO fast break points in multiple games to being a guy who pushes the ball up the court. Sorry Spanky, we all can see where he’ll be.

Both are slow and poor defenders and will get eaten alive by the speed of guards in the NBA. Neither seems to have much of a motor and they just stand around a lot. Both of those things can be fixed with better defensive technique and motivation. But it’s going to take a lot of work.

I agree, Chad Ford. Andrew just looked bad last night. Scared to bring it up the court. I hope he turns it around, but who knows. With that said, the answer is a clear YES we want them both back. With a little experience, they could be really good. Not NBA ready yet, though.

These kids should look to Marquise Teague as an example. The young man could’ve stayed one more year, improved his skill set, got drafted high in the first round, and not found himself becoming a perennial D-Leaguer. Kentucky, at the same time, would’ve probably gone a great distance in the NCAA tournament instead of bowing out in the first round of the NIT.

This is absolutely true. Though I would say Teague coming back AND Noel not getting hurt. Teague would have made Archie, Wiltjer and Noel so much better on offense.

I also thought people didn’t understand how important getting WCS and Poy back this year was. Everyone gets so excited about freshman, but you don’t get Anthony Davis and MKG every year. Not even at Kentucky.

Oddly enough, I saw Deron tweeting Marquis Teague that he wished that they had come back another year “after beating Kansas.” I think it was during the Vandy game. He said he’s never watched a game at Rupp and would love to walk the campus again. Maybe if we’re lucky some of those guys can talk to some of these guys.

Sad part about Teague is he showed flashes of the potential to be a really good PG (not a superstar) and keep himself in the league a long time. I never saw him as a potential starter but potentially a perennial backup like Nate Robinson. But instead, he left early, ended up going to a team with a superstar PG in Derrick Rose…then Rose gets hurt and you think “Oh, maybe Teague can crack the lineup”…nope…the Bulls had to trade for a serviceable PG in Rose’s absence.

Teague is currently dead last in the NBA in efficiency. Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t get many minutes, but it’s also a because he doesn’t make anything of the few minutes he gets.

He’ll end up in Europe or Asia once his contract ends probably. I’d be surprised to see another NBA team offer him a contract.

Perhaps it is time that the trend of one and doners comes to an end. Other than Polson, I don’t think there was one single player on the floor that really cared whether the game was a win or a lost. It is just another day closer to making the big bucks which is what they came for clearly.
I’d rather see Kentucky lose and play the guys who truly understand what the name on the jersey means than watch the ones show up, then leave.

I disagree. Last night I thought they played with a lot of heart. You had guys diving into the stands, diving for loose balls, battling for rebounds etc.. I hope yesterday’s effort is a sign of things to come.

They still lost to a crappy team. They should have hustled more. Played better defense. A long list of mistakes. Face it people, they’re good as they’re gonna get. Defense is absolutely terrible. So disgusted with this team!

Come on guys. You all act like the Harrisons are terrible. Aaron has carried us a few times this year and on some nights was our best player.Coming into this game Andrew had 3 or 4 straight really good games. Are they perfect? Of course not. Are they ready for the NBA after a half season? Of course not. Will they be by the end of the year?None of us know the answer to that one.

I’ll venture these two: Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones. Both improved markedly over their fresman seasons, and it could be argued that Lamb could have worked himself into lottery discussions if he had stayed for his junior season.

Terrance Jones was a projected top 10 pick after his fresman season lamb was a projected 1st rounder after his first year. The fact that they got better doesn’t change the fact that they got drafted lower.

I think he’d be better coming off the bench behind his brother and young as a two. He isn’t a true point. In high school you can get away with that. But in college he’s way to slow to be a point. and on defense both are way to easy to get passed. Start Polson at the point and these silly turnovers will go away.

Imagine if Julius Randle came back next year. Probably won’t happen but just look at what it done for Terrence Jones. He starts in the frontcourt for the Rockets with Dwight Howard and is getting double doubles in games. Plus the 2015 draft will be weaker and he would almost be the certain number one pick after dominating his sophmore year.

These draft boards burn my arse! Why not start NBA talk in March. To much pressure worrying if a guy fell from 10 to 15 to 26! Its hard for a kid to better himself if large amounts of money are flashed at him. I still say we needed Wiltjers leadership this year to be champs!

C’mon folks, check yourselves. These kids (and I mean all these kids like Parker, Wiggins, etc.) come in so hyped up by the AAU / ESPN recruiting & marketing machine that all they have to do is simply not die during their freshman “year” and they’re going pro.

If anyone thinks they give a flat damn about the history & tradition of UK or coming back to hang another banner at Rupp is fooling themselves. They’re here for one reason: they have to go to school somewhere for a year and Cal is a helluva salesman.

The draft is all about potential. For damn’s sake, if Archie Freaking Goodwin can get drafted then the Harrison’s, who are much better at not falling down than Archie, will get drafted.

And yes, I’m exhausted by this merry-go-round program we are now saddled with. I’m only mildly emotionally invested in the program (it is UK after all) because I’m worn out from all the new faces each year & hoping that a pack of 18 year olds can win some games without knowing who the hell they are. I’d rather watch the NBA…that way I don’t feel guilty for not really caring if a team wins or loses.

Oh…and I’m fairly SICK of hearing Cal, of all people, complaining about freshmen or making excuses for freshmen or saying he wishes these kids would stay around longer. Right. Bullshit Cal. Bullshit. You’ve built this program and your sales pitch on kids leaving as soon as possible. So just stop it.